- How to learn about a world-class double bass? Give it a CT https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/publications-and-special-projects/penn-medicine-magazine/spring-summer-2024/how-to-learn-about-a-world-class-double-bass-give-it-a-ct 3 comments technology
- Important brain structures that are key for signaling in the brain are narrower and less dense in females. The structural differences in male and female brains might explain why females are more prone to concussions and experience longer recovery than male counterparts, finds a new study in swine. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2024/may/axons-in-female-mammal-brains-may-be-more-prone-to-concussions 82 comments science
- Black adults across the United States suffer from sleep problems following exposure to news about unarmed Black individuals killed by police during police encounters. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2024/february/losing-sleep-over-killings-of-unarmed-black-individuals-by-police#:~:text=%E2%80%9CExposure%20of%20Black%20Americans%20to,and%20emotional%20well%2Dbeing.%E2%80%9D 726 comments science
- New CAR T cell therapy (AT101) that uses a new binding mechanism to target CD19 shows 100 percent effectiveness in clinical trials https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2023/december/car-t-cell-therapy-with-new-binding-mechanism-shows-promise 16 comments science
- Penn Medicine Studies Unlock New Insights Into Gene Therapy https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2023/november/penn-medicine-studies-unlock-new-insights-into-gene-therapy 2 comments science
- Patients in the U.S. and Canada are 7 Times more likely as those in Sweden to Receive Opioids After Surgery http://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/september/patients-in-the-us-and-canada-are-seven-times-as-likely-as-sweden-to-receive-opioids--surgery 2 comments europe
- Deep Brain Stimulation Shows Promise Against Binge Eating Disorder https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2022/august/deep-brain-stimulation-promising-against-binge-eating-disorder 3 comments science
- Researchers Discover New Cell Type in Human Lung with Regenerative Properties https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2022/april/penn-researchers-discover-new-cell-type-in-human-lung-with-regenerative-properties 6 comments science
- Heart Disease-Protective Diabetes Drug Not Used Equitably, Penn Study Finds https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/december/heart-disease-protective-diabetes-drug-not-used-equitably-penn-study-finds 10 comments science
- A prospective study of 2,529 pregnant women found that drinking caffeinated beverages (less than 200 mg, about two, six-ounce cups) per day was associated with a reduced risk of developing gestational diabetes and is not linked to maternal health risks https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/november/moderate-amounts-of-caffeine-not-linked-to-maternal-health-risks 13 comments science
- Red blood cells, apart from delivering oxygen, also participate in immune response: they bind free-floating DNA fragments and deliver them to macrophages, which triggers inflammatory reaction https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/october/penn-medicine-study-finds-red-blood-cells-play-much-larger-role-in-immune-system 4 comments science
- Penn Study Suggests Those Who Had COVID-19 May Only Need One Vaccine Dose https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/april/penn-study-suggests-those-who-had-covid19-may-only-need-one-vaccine-dose 81 comments science
- Gene Therapy Shows Promise in Initial Trial for Patients with Childhood Blindness. The therapy delivers working copies of GUCY2D to the eyes of patients who have severe vision impairments caused by mutations in the gene. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/april/gene-therapy-shows-promise-in-initial-trial-for-patients-with-childhood-blindness 3 comments science
- A single head injury could lead to dementia later in life. Compared to participants who never experienced a head injury, a single prior head injury was associated with a 1.25 times increased risk, a history of two or more prior head injuries was associated with over 2 times increased risk https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/march/head-injury-25-years-later-penn-study-finds-increased-risk-of-dementia 1166 comments science
- Study Explores Neurocognitive Basis of Bias Against People Who Look Different. Compared to more attractive faces, participants considered anomalous faces less trustworthy, less content, and more anxious, on average. The anomalous faces also made the participants feel less happy. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2021/february/the-scarred-villain-study-explores-neurocognitive-basis-of-bias-against-people-who-look-different 13 comments science
- 329 people are injured by firearms in U.S. each day, but for every death, two survive. Research found, there were an average of 34,538 deaths per year, of which 77 % occur outside hospital. In total, there were an average of 85,694 emergency department visits per year for nonfatal injuries. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/december/study-shows-329-people-are-injured-by-firearms-in-us-each-day-but-for-every-death-two-survive 50 comments science
- Study finds middle-aged individuals — those born in the late 1960s and the 1970s — may be in a perpetual state of H3N2 influenza virus susceptibility because their antibodies bind to H3N2 viruses but fail to prevent infections. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2020/september/middle-aged-individuals-may-be-in-a-perpetual-state-of-h3n2-flu-virus-susceptibility 54 comments science
- Growing up in poverty, and experiencing traumatic events like a bad accident or sexual assault, were linked to accelerated puberty and brain maturation, abnormal brain development, and greater mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis, according to a new study (n=9,498). https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/may/childhood-adversity-linked-to-earlier-puberty 3 comments science
- Adults Taking Cognitive Enhancers to Boost Mental Abilities at Work Considered Largely Acceptable by the Public. Cognitive enhancement has become increasingly accepted for adults in the workplace, but not students or athletes https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/may/taking-cognitive-enhancers-to-boost-mental-abilities-at-work-considered-acceptable-by-public 3 comments science
- When Automotive Assembly Plants Close, Deaths from Opioid Overdoses Rise. The findings highlight fading economic opportunity as a driving factor in the ongoing national opioid epidemic, and build on previous research that links declining participation in the labor force to increased opioid use https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/december/when-automotive-assembly-plants-close-deaths-from-opioid-overdoses-rise 8 comments science
- Opioid Prescription Dosages Drop 22% following a New Jersey law that limits new prescriptions to 5-day supplies https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/october/new-opioid-prescription-dosages-drop-22-percent 30 comments science
- Brain imaging of 40 U.S. government personnel who experienced a host of neurological symptoms after possible exposure of an unknown source while serving in Cuba revealed significant differences in brain tissue and connectivity when compared to healthy individuals. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/july/advanced-neuroimaging-brain-matter-alterations-gov-personnel-developed-neurological-symptoms-cuba 79 comments science
- Music can be a viable alternative to medications in reducing anxiety before anesthesia, suggests a new randomized controlled study, which found music to be similarly effective as the intravenous form of the sedative medication midazolam in lowering anxiety before anesthetic procedure. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/july/music-can-be-a-viable-alternative-to-medications-in-reducing-anxiety-before-anesthesia-procedures 6 comments science
- Growing up in poverty, and experiencing traumatic events like a bad accident or sexual assault, were linked to accelerated puberty and brain maturation, abnormal brain development, and greater mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and psychosis, according to a new study (n=9,498). https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/may/childhood-adversity-linked-to-earlier-puberty 1005 comments science
- A specialized pain management program for patients who underwent robotic surgery for urologic cancers resulted in just eight percent going home with narcotics after discharge, compared to 100 percent who would have received them without this enhanced recovery protocol. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/may/new-pain-management-protocol-sends-92-percent-of-cancer-surgery-patients-home-with-no-opioids 5 comments science
- Adults Taking Cognitive Enhancers to Boost Mental Abilities at Work Considered Largely Acceptable by the Public. Cognitive enhancement has become increasingly accepted for adults in the workplace, but not students or athletes https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/may/taking-cognitive-enhancers-to-boost-mental-abilities-at-work-considered-acceptable-by-public 72 comments science
- States with Strict Gun Laws See Increase in Homicides When They Border States with Lax Ones – Penn Medicine Study https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/march/states-with-strict-gun-laws-see-increase-in-homicides-when-they-border-states-with-lax-ones 32 comments science
- Childhood blindness therapy shows ‘very promising’ results. At three months after the first injection, half of the patients showed improvements in visual acuity, measured by the ability to either read letters, or distinguish direction of black and white bars. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/december/injection-improves-vision-in-a-form-of-childhood-blindness 5 comments science
- For the first time, scientists have performed prenatal gene editing using both CRISPR-Cas9 and base editor 3 (BE3) to prevent a lethal metabolic disorder in mice, offering the potential to treat human congenital diseases before birth, as reported today in Nature Medicine. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/october/crispr-prenatal-gene-editing-shows-proof-of-concept-in-treating-congenital-disease-before-birth 32 comments science
- Candidate for Universal Flu Vaccine Protects Against Multiple Strains in Preclinical Study https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/august/candidate-for-universal-flu-vaccine-protects-against-multiple-strains-in-preclinical-study 3 comments science
- Cancer Cells Send Out “Drones” to Battle Immune System from Afar https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/august/cancer-cells-send-out-drones-to-battle-immune-system-from-afar 10 comments science
- Greening vacant lots reduces feelings of depression and improves overall mental health in city dwellers, finds a new randomized, controlled study. The findings have implications for US cities, where 15% of land is deemed “vacant” and often blighted or filled with trash and overgrown vegetation. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/july/greening-vacant-lots-reduces-feelings-of-depression-in-city-dwellers-penn-study-finds 6 comments science
- Financial incentives are found to be three times more effective than e-cigarettes and other stop-smoking aids, in a University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine-led study. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/may/in-helping-smokers-quit-cash-is-king-e-cigarettes-strike-out 5 comments science
- New research shows that offering smoking cessation aids, such as nicotine patches and chewing gum, for free does not help employees quit, whereas supplementing them with financial incentives is three times more effective. The study also shows offering e-cigarettes to known smokers is not effective. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2018/may/in-helping-smokers-quit-cash-is-king-e-cigarettes-strike-out 12 comments science
- Sleep deprivation is an effective anti-depressant for nearly half of depressed patients. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/september/sleep-deprivation-is-an-effective-antidepressant-for-nearly-half-of-depressed-patients 5 comments science
- Brain Training Has No Effect on Decision-making or Cognitive Function https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/july/brain-training-has-no-effect-on-decision-making-or-cognitive-function 27 comments science
- Common insurance plans leave care at America’s top cancer hospitals out of reach. Narrow insurance plans more likely to exclude NCI-designated or NCCN Cancer Centers, finds Penn Med study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/july/common-insurance-plans-leave-care-at-americas-top-cancer-hospitals-out-of-reach 35 comments science
- A new study by Penn Medicine reveals that while volume decreases from childhood to young adulthood, gray matter density actually increases. Thus, while adolescents lose brain volume, and females have lower brain volume than males, this is compensated for by increased density of gray matter. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/may/penn-study-finds-gray-matter-density-increases-during-adolescence 17 comments science
- Doctors have found a way to manipulate wounds to heal as regenerated skin rather than scar tissue. The method involves transforming the most common type of cells found in wounds into fat cells – something that was previously thought to be impossible in humans. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2017/january/using-fat-to-help-wounds-heal-without-scars 157 comments science
- The sense of smell declines sharply in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, and administering a simple “sniff test” can enhance the accuracy of diagnosing the disease as well as a pre-dementia condition called mild cognitive impairment (MCI), finds University of Pennsylvania researchers. https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2016/december/sniff-test-may-be-useful-in-diagnosing-early-alzheimers-disease 7 comments science